Watches

Tiffany & Company GMT-Master Rolex, ca. 1963

Appraisal: Tiffany & Company GMT-Master Rolex, ca. 1963

Transcript

GUEST: I brought you my Rolex watch, which was given to me as a gift from my uncle back in 1975. He purchased it at Tiffany's in New York. He was a physician who had relocated to the Netherlands from New York, probably in the mid-'60s. And right before I was going to go to college, he noticed that I wasn't wearing a watch on my wrist, so he literally took it off of his wrist, gave it to me, and that's how I acquired it.

APPRAISER: Do you know why he picked this model watch?

GUEST: I don't. Unfortunately, he passed away a few years back, but he was always one of those people who always like the newest things.

APPRAISER: And when he gave it to you, did you know about Rolex? Had you heard of Rolex?

GUEST: I had no idea. I found out later, I was on a plane one time and I sat next to a jeweler, and he asked me how I liked my GMT Master, and I had no clue what he was talking about until he goes, "Oh, your Rolex."

APPRAISER: Did you wear it often once you got the watch?

GUEST: I've never taken it off. I've worn it almost every day.

APPRAISER: Oh, long time.

GUEST: Yeah.

APPRAISER: Over 40... about 40 years, you've been wearing it.

GUEST: Absolutely.

APPRAISER: Wow. You told me you tried to get it serviced at a Rolex dealer?

GUEST: Yes, I did.

APPRAISER: What did they tell you?

GUEST: About 18 months to two years ago, I took it in to get it serviced at a Rolex dealer. The person at the jewelry store told me that if I did send it in to Rolex to be serviced, they would remove the face, put a new face on the watch, and then keep the old face. And I didn't want to do that, so I took it to a different watch repair shop.

APPRAISER: When Rolex generally restores a watch, they like to put new parts on them. They don't like their old parts around because people use the parts to make counterfeit watches with them, or they can take a real dial and put it on a fake watch. So they don't want those parts floating around. In this case, I'm glad that you didn't change the parts on the watch. What caused you to think that? Because most people would want the watch refurbished and all shiny and new.

GUEST: It was especially interesting to me that the watch was purchased at Tiffany's in New York, and I thought that was a really wonderful feature about the watch. And I knew that if they replaced it, it wouldn't have that, and I thought that was especially unique.

APPRAISER: Your watch is a GMT Master, as you've mentioned. It's one of the earlier versions. I looked up the serial number of the watch, it was made around 1963, 1964. I would say the original retail price was somewhere around $275 to $350. It has an unusual dial on it. It's an earlier model dial, we call it gilt dial. It's got a few features on it that are really very interesting. One of them is at the very bottom of the writing, there's a little line, it's underline. Collectors refer to this as an underline dial. Also, it's very unusual that you have the Tiffany name on the dial. It's a co-branded watch-- you have the Rolex name, and you have the Tiffany name. Tiffany no longer sells Rolex watches. They used to sell Rolex watches, but one day Rolex decided that they didn't want to print the Tiffany name on the dials anymore. Tiffany took the stance that "We're a brand name, and we don't want to sell anything that doesn't have our name on it." So they took the corporate decision not to sell Rolex anymore if they could not have their name on the watch. The fact that it has the Tiffany name on the dial adds to the collectability of the watch. What do you think the value of the watch is?

GUEST: I have no idea. I've taken it in to various Rolex stores, from time to time, and I've heard everything from, when I first had it serviced in the early '80s, $1,200, to people telling me well over $10,000.

APPRAISER: Well, your particular watch, if you had it serviced by Rolex and had them replace the bezel insert here, which is all faded out, and replace the dial, polish it up and make it beautiful, your watch, today, would probably bring around $10,000 to $12,000. If you had it serviced.

GUEST: Wow.

APPRAISER: I'm very happy that you did not have it serviced that way. Collectors like things totally original. They want the original dial, even with the oxidation on it, even the faded bezel is very collectible. Today, in the retail market, your watch is worth $50,000.

GUEST: Oh, good grief. That's, uh... that is absolutely stunning to me. I mean, I think the highest I ever heard was $30,000, which I thought was crazy and outrageous, but the fact that it's worth $50,000 is startling to me.

APPRAISER: If the dial had no oxidation on it, and it was really a mint dial, this is a $100,000 watch in today's market.